Offbeat Park City: Activities Off the Beaten Path
Unique Activities in Park City
It’s true that Park City is a destination for those who love to participate in winter activities, but that’s not all this charming little mountain town offers to visitors. If you’re hoping to expand your horizons past skiing and snowboarding, there are a ton of other activities available for travelers that lie off the beaten path, including everything from ghost tours to thrilling rides down the Park City Mountain Coaster.
Make your next trip to the mountains one that you will reminisce about for years to come with our list of unique activities off the beaten path in Park City.
Take a Ghost Tour of Historic Main Street
Known as the “scariest adventure in Park City”, this first activity is not recommended for those who are spooked by talk of the paranormal.
The Park City Ghost Tour begins at Miner’s Park on Main Street, and this spooky guided tour will give you insight into both the ghosts that haunt the town as well as the history behind them. As you are guided up and down Main Street, your tour guide (dressed in Old West attire, of course) will acquaint you with the local legends and history of the area. Each story that the guides tell was collected over twelve painstaking years of research into the restless spirits that inhabit the town. If you’re a doubter of the paranormal, prepare to have your mind changed on this tour.
Tour High West Whiskey and Learn About the History of Whiskey in the West
For travelers that prefer to get their whiskey straight from the source, a tour of High West Whiskey is the perfect offbeat activity while you’re staying in the Park City area. This distillery, which opened as a small operation in 2006, has grown from humble roots to become the award-winning and internationally-recognized brand it is today. As you tour the gorgeous facility where the whiskey magic happens, you’ll get insight into every step of the distilling process, from blending to aging and bottling.
Paired along with a great history lesson that gives visitors insight into whiskey’s influence on the West, this tour is a can’t-miss stop on your next visit to Park City. Bring a bit of extra cash if you plan on sampling the distillery’s award-winning alcohol, however, as Utah law states that these types of tours can’t provide whiskey free of charge.
Get Some Thrills In On the Park City Mountain Coaster
If you’ve decided to make the trek to Park City, one unique adventure that both kids and adults will want to try is the Park City Mountain Coaster. Located atop Park City Mountain, this alpine coaster reaches top speeds of 30 mph as you wind down sharp curves and hair-pin turns that give you unparalleled views of the Park City scenery. If the going gets too hairy, you do have the option of manually slowing the cart down if necessary. For both kids and thrill-seeking adults, this wild ride down the mountain will be one that you remember for years to come.
Watch the Acrobatics of the Flying Ace All-Stars
Park City is known for its ties to the 2002 Winter Olympics, offering many sports parks to allow visitors to try out their acrobatic skills on skis or snowboards. But if you’re hoping to see the professionals take their turn at the acrobatics during the warmer summer months, you can’t beat witnessing former Olympians and Olympic hopefuls go all out at the Flying Ace All-Star show, located at Utah Olympic Park.
Watch athletes hurtle down a steep, mountain-like structure at speeds of 35 mph, then shoot up to 50 feet in the air to perform their acrobatics before they land in the custom-built pool below. This incredible show, produced by former Olympians Fuzz Fedderson and Trace Worthington, has become known around the world as one of the foremost stunt skiing and boarding showcases in the country.
Take a Mines and Wine Tour
Park City is, first and foremost, a mining town. Long before it became known for as a destination for skiers and snowboarders, it had a long and colored history as one of the silver mining capitals of the west. The Mines and Wines Tour gives you insight into those early days, paired along with a variety of different wines for you to imbibe upon.
This three-hour tour begins with an overview into the feud that brought the very first mining operations to Park City. After that, you’ll board a shuttle that will bring you to five different important mining locations in town, with a stop at each to enjoy a wine pairing and learn more about the mining history of the area.
Park City is More Than Just a Ski Haven
There’s plenty of unique things to do in Park City, even if you’re not big into winter sports. Whether you decide to attend an exhibition of world-class acrobatics with the Flying Ace All-Stars or careen down the Park City Mountain Coaster, there’s more than one way to get in some offbeat fun next time you’re in town.
For visitors looking to spend some well-earned time outdoors on their next trip to Park City, check out our list of our favorite winter hikes in the area. Or, if you’ve decided to come to the mountains for a long weekend and don’t want to spend time putting an itinerary together, we’ve created a 3-day plan for visitors that ensures you won’t miss out on the any of the fun that this mountain town has to offer.